Myrtle L. Richmond

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Myrtle L. Richmond
A young white woman with fair hair in an updo, wearing eyeglasses and a high-collared white dress or blouse
Myrtle L. Richmond, from the 1907 Smith College yearbook
Born
Myrtle Leila Richmond

(1882-09-30)September 30, 1882
Vinland, Kansas
DiedJanuary 2, 1973(1973-01-02) (aged 90)
Pasadena, California
Alma mater
Known forComputer at Mount Wilson Observatory, 1913 to 1947
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics and Astronomy
Institutions

Myrtle Leila Richmond (September 30, 1882 – January 2, 1973) was an American astronomical researcher, a computer who worked at the Mount Wilson Observatory from 1913 to 1947.

Early life and education[edit]

Richmond was born in Vinland, Kansas, the daughter of Frank L. Richmond and Leila Delight Richmond.[1] Her father was construction superintendent in the railroad industry.[2] She graduated from Smith College in 1907,[3] and earned a master's degree in 1908 at the University of Denver.[4] She was active in Smith College alumnae activities in Los Angeles.[5]

Career[edit]

Richmond taught mathematics at the University of Denver,[4] and worked at Chamberlin Observatory in Colorado in 1909.[6] She was a fellow in mathematics and astronomy at Goodsell Observatory in 1912,[7] where she worked on Variable stars[8] and a comet's orbit.[9]

Richmond joined the Mount Wilson Observatory computing department in 1913, and retired in 1947, after she "ably assisted in a large number of stellar and solar investigations."[10][11][12] She was listed as a member of the observatory's "investigatory staff" in 1917.[13] Her work also helped to establish the location of the planet Pluto,[14][15][16] and of the moons of Jupiter.[17] She contributed to several observatory publications,[18][19] including A photometric study of the pleiades (1931, with Harlow Shapley), Mean distribution of stars according to apparent magnitude and galactic latitude (1925), The mean color-index of stars of different apparent magnitudes. Some relations between magnitude scales (1925), and Mount Wilson catalogue of photographic magnitudes in selected areas 1–139 (1930).[20] She co-authored articles with American astronomer Seth Barnes Nicholson[21] and Danish astronomer Julie Vinter Hansen.[22]

Personal life[edit]

Richmond enjoyed hiking.[23] She died in 1973, aged 90 years, in Pasadena. Her gravesite is in Woodstock, Vermont,[1] her father's hometown.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Miss Myrtle Richmond". Rutland Daily Herald. May 4, 1973. p. 4. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b "Frank L. Richmond". Vermont Standard. February 14, 1907. p. 3. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Smith College (1920). Annual register of the Alumnae Association of Smith College. p. 6.
  4. ^ a b University of Denver and Colorado Seminary Catalogue (1908–1909): College of Liberal Arts, Graduate School, Preparatory School. University of Denver. 1909. p. 21 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "Smith College Women Hold Reunion". The Pasadena Post. February 23, 1920. p. 7. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Howe, H. A. (October 1, 1910). REPORTS OF OBSERVATORIES, 1909. JSTOR. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. p. 191.
  7. ^ Payne, William Wallace; Willard, Charlotte R.; Wilson, Herbert Couper; Wilson, Ralph Elmer; Gingrich, Curvin Henry (June–July 1913). "General Notes". Popular Astronomy. 21: 379.
  8. ^ Richmond, Myrtle L. (December 1912). "Minima of Variable Stars of the Algol Type". Popular Astronomy. 20: 661–662.
  9. ^ Richmond, Myrtle L. (December 1912). "Ephemeris of Comet 1912 c (Borrelly)". Popular Astronomy. 20: 672.
  10. ^ Bowen, Ira S. (December 1948). "Survey of the Year's Work at the Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 60 (357): 357. Bibcode:1948PASP...60..353B. doi:10.1086/126090.
  11. ^ "Stars Figured 40,000,000,000". Los Angeles Times. July 20, 1929. p. 24. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Women in Science". Los Angeles Times. July 1, 1929. p. 10. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Carnegie Institution of Washington (1917). Carnegie Institution of Washington ... The Institution.
  14. ^ Richmond, Myrtle L. (1944). "Positions of Pluto". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 56: 217. doi:10.1086/125731. S2CID 121451412.
  15. ^ Richmond, Myrtle L. (1944). "Ephemeris of Pluto". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 56 (328): 37. Bibcode:1944PASP...56...37R. doi:10.1086/125594. ISSN 0004-6280. JSTOR 40669890.
  16. ^ van Biesbroeck, G. (April 1944). "Position of Pluto in 1944". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 56 (329): 89. Bibcode:1944PASP...56...89V. doi:10.1086/125616. S2CID 250770864.
  17. ^ Nicholson, Seth B. (1944). "Orbit of the Ninth Moon of Jupiter". Contributions from the Mount Wilson Observatory. 693: 1–6. Bibcode:1944CMWCI.693....1N.
  18. ^ Sandage, Allan; Brown, Louis; Allan, Sandage (2004). Centennial History of the Carnegie Institution of Washington: Volume 1, The Mount Wilson Observatory: Breaking the Code of Cosmic Evolution. Cambridge University Press. pp. 220–221. ISBN 978-0-521-83078-2.
  19. ^ Janssen, Edith M.; Vyssotsky, A. N.; Richmond, Myrtle L. (1943). "Seven New S-Type Stars". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 55 (326): 245–246. Bibcode:1943PASP...55..245J. doi:10.1086/125561. ISSN 0004-6280. JSTOR 40669971. S2CID 250741621.
  20. ^ Mount Wilson Observatory; Seares, Frederick Hanley; Kapteyn, J. C; Rhijn, P. J. van; Joyner, Mary C; Richmond, Myrtle L (1930). Mount Wilson catalogue of photographic magnitudes in selected areas 1–139. Washington: Carnegie Institution of Washington. OCLC 1180673.
  21. ^ Nicholson, Seth B.; Richmond, Myrtle L. (1944). "A Tornado Prominence, June 19, 1944". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 56 (331): 162–165. Bibcode:1944PASP...56..162N. doi:10.1086/125642. ISSN 0004-6280. JSTOR 40671678.
  22. ^ Hansen, Julie M. Vinter; Richmond, Myrtle L. (1942). "The Relative Accuracy of Radial Velocities Measured with the Spectrocomparator and with the Usual Measuring Machine". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 54 (320): 203–205. Bibcode:1942PASP...54..203V. doi:10.1086/125445. ISSN 0004-6280. JSTOR 40670226.
  23. ^ "Summit of San Jacinto Peak Their Goal". The Pasadena Post. September 9, 1919. p. 6. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
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